21 Brilliant Movie Talents We Lost In 2014

5. Maya Angelou

Robin Williams
Gerald Herbert/AP

Rating: 1928-2014

When she died at age 86 in May, Maya Angelou was a good deal more than a film actor: she was a prominent civil rights activist, poet, writer, dancer and singer and the world is poorer for her loss - particularly the worlds of black rights and literature. Her flirtation with film was meagre in comparison to other achievements, but it was typically as committed and as enriching.

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